John-Blair Bickerstaff: Currently The 6th Longest Tenured Head Coach

[MirORich]

I've not liked JB but as the team seemed to have turned a corner, criticisms have simmered, personally

edit: sorry for piggybacking off your post with such a long general opinion. This should not read as a rebuttal or attack on your take, just continuing the conversation happening in the thread

It’s a tough needle to thread, figuring out how to weigh ALL the short, medium, and long term elements that go in coaching. It’s so many things. I don’t want to pull up the Blatt Fighter Jet pilot analogy necessarily but it’s a job that involves so many elements and many of those elements are in completely different realms. It’s really reductive and demeaning to call the job that is being done right now “babysitting” or “placeholding”. As mentioned upmost, the vast majority of coaches we regard as good to great from the past 25 years all had one or even two years of early playoff exits with their teams before they took the next step together. That is normal.

When you have a groups of players and coaching staff that are building together, buying in, growing, and clearly improving(small and big, individual and team) it’s really difficult to find that balance of knowing when to continue to allow that chemistry, familiarity, communication language, and cohesion to continue to hopefully grow, which sometimes/often does require fighting through some adversity from setbacks and losses. Most non vet superteams do take steps over the course of a few seasons on their way to eventually finding their ceiling as a group of players and coaching staff.

Barring a complete disconnect between the main players and coach, which does not seem to be happening here at all, I think it’s likely that this current coaching staff will get at LEAST this years playoffs and next years playoffs to grow together with the team, that is still massively young and inexperienced in terms of playoff basketball.

And I believe that is the right thing to do, even though there will be some obvious and frustrating growing pains in the intense spotlight of playoff level basketball.

 

[David.]

Blatt got criticism there but he was right.

 

[letgocavs]

What about ime udoka?

 

[bleedwineandgold03]

it’s very likely that gained EXPERIENCE from tough first playoff appearances and smart additions made around their core is what made the Warriors take their leap, not a Mark Jackson for Steve Kerr swap.

People are so gullible to believe the whole golden boy/puppet master positive stereotypes that get put on certain coaches.

Even IF a big uptick in the Warriors after Jackson was let go was due to coaching, it was much likely moreso due to assistant Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams.

Didn’t luke Walton coached that warriors team first half of the 73-6 season and had a killer record lmaoo

 

[MirORich]

Didn’t luke Walton coached that warriors team first half of the 73-6 season and had a killer record lmaoo

As did Mike Brown when he coached games during a bad health year for Kerr.

Doesn't mean Kerr is a bad coach. But roster talent, continuity, assistants, and so many other factors contribute to a teams actual ceiling and results than the fan driven idea of some puppet master who pulls all the right strings while at the same time maintaining trust and buy.

Kerr took over at a great time where:
- Steph was finally over his ankle issues and entering his prime
-Draymond and Klay were entering their early primes
- recent additions like Iggy, Livingston, and Barbosa were either added that year or the year befoe he took over.
- the team as a whole had gone through two growing pain playoff years as a very very young team. Did Mark Jackson hold them back or where they just very young and very inexoerienced going up against peak title winning SAS and the best version of the Lob City Clippers?

I think Mark Jackson is a knob for some of the things he said but I think the narrative that he was holding them back and that Kerr was the magic key to unlocking them is a gross misrepresentation of what actually occurred. Kerr certainly made some wise changes and was flanked by two really good assistants in Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams who had major input on offense and defense respectively

That being said, I know our resident Bay Area vet @Randolphkeys knows way more about those years for that team than I do, so maybe I’m way off base

 

[foucault87]

I've talked about what I think JBB's strengths and weaknesses are before. He does the locker room manager part of the job well, but its less of an issue with this squad vs something like the pre deadline Nets. Getting guys to play hard all year is no easy feat

However, his Xs and Os are the 2nd worst in the league (thx Stephen Silas). How have we never drawn a functional ATO in 3 years? Why is the plan when we know we will get fouled to have one of our best FT shooters (DG) throw the ball in to one of our most suspect (JA)? Our offense needs more movement ... we have players who can do it but just not the strategy.

I also don't love how JBB uses his rotations. Playing our starters too many mjns sometimes is part of the issue but there is no stability. How many times have we seen Cedi drop 4 3s in 18 mins only to get DNP-CDd the next night? What is the point of having 15 roster spots if only 6 guys ever see floor time?

Between this and his tactics, JBB might as well be coaching the 2004 Milwaukee Bucks. So yes, I think we would need a tactical upgrade. But I'm not sure how much control JBB would be willing to give to someone who can actually think about the game beyond try harder

 

[MirORich]

I've talked about what I think JBB's strengths and weaknesses are before. He does the locker room manager part of the job well, but its less of an issue with this squad vs something like the pre deadline Nets. Getting guys to play hard all year is no easy feat

However, his Xs and Os are the 2nd worst in the league (thx Stephen Silas). How have we never drawn a functional ATO in 3 years? Why is the plan when we know we will get fouled to have one of our best FT shooters (DG) throw the ball in to one of our most suspect (JA)? Our offense needs more movement ... we have players who can do it but just not the strategy.

I also don't love how JBB uses his rotations. Playing our starters too many mjns sometimes is part of the issue but there is no stability. How many times have we seen Cedi drop 4 3s in 18 mins only to get DNP-CDd the next night? What is the point of having 15 roster spots if only 6 guys ever see floor time?

Between this and his tactics, JBB might as well be coaching the 2004 Milwaukee Bucks. So yes, I think we would need a tactical upgrade. But I'm not sure how much control JBB would be willing to give to someone who can actually think about the game beyond try harder

There are more to X and O’s then ATO”s

I won’t argue that ATO’s aren’t a weakness. They clearly are at the moment.

But by what basis are you asserting that he’s the 2nd worst X and O coach in the league? Does offensive efficiency back that up? Have you watched 6-10 games of all 29 other teams in the league to have the appropriate context to back that claim up?

Other things you said also don’t check out.

-There have been no games we’ve played only 7 guys, let alone only 6. Every team has 15 roster spots and 8 to 9 man rotations are very normal around the league.

-Cedi is often a good offensive spark for us. We have also seen him do too much free lancing, have bad shooting streaks, be a poor defender, lose focus, not follow his assignment, try to be too flashy as a playmaker. it should not be a mystery that at times we’ve gone away from him in games and looked to see if other guys were ready to consisgently give us what we need. When those guys have struggled to or got injured, it should not be a mystery why we’ve genie back to Cedi for a spark. MANY players around the league have to deal with being on the cusp of the rotation.

If you think all JBB is is a “try harder” motivational speaker, you’re taking way to seriously the press conferences. Coaches do not have an obligation and rarely go into detail about the actual stuff the staff schemes and works on with the press or the fans.

 

[Comeback kid]

Rotations, communication, out of bounds plays, lack of sets, ATO’s, are problems. But good players can cover that up for a while.

 

[Cassity14]

Blatt got criticism there but he was right.

He was, but it was just so condescending to cover up for his inexcusable gaffe rather than show some humility and accept that he nearly cost his team a game and series.

 

[Dr. Claw]

edit: sorry for piggybacking off your post with such a long general opinion. This should not read as a rebuttal or attack on your take, just continuing the conversation happening in the thread

It’s a tough needle to thread, figuring out how to weigh ALL the short, medium, and long term elements that go in coaching. It’s so many things. I don’t want to pull up the Blatt Fighter Jet pilot analogy necessarily but it’s a job that involves so many elements and many of those elements are in completely different realms. It’s really reductive and demeaning to call the job that is being done right now “babysitting” or “placeholding”. As mentioned upmost, the vast majority of coaches we regard as good to great from the past 25 years all had one or even two years of early playoff exits with their teams before they took the next step together. That is normal.

When you have a groups of players and coaching staff that are building together, buying in, growing, and clearly improving(small and big, individual and team) it’s really difficult to find that balance of knowing when to continue to allow that chemistry, familiarity, communication language, and cohesion to continue to hopefully grow, which sometimes/often does require fighting through some adversity from setbacks and losses. Most non vet superteams do take steps over the course of a few seasons on their way to eventually finding their ceiling as a group of players and coaching staff.

Barring a complete disconnect between the main players and coach, which does not seem to be happening here at all, I think it’s likely that this current coaching staff will get at LEAST this years playoffs and next years playoffs to grow together with the team, that is still massively young and inexperienced in terms of playoff basketball.

And I believe that is the right thing to do, even though there will be some obvious and frustrating growing pains in the intense spotlight of playoff level basketball.

The highlighted is why JBB is here and Beilein is not. The Cavs gave that situation the boot before it turned into a true disaster, thankfully. That's another thing that turns down the heat on the criticisms. JBB as we all know has not been ideal, but there was forward progress every season with him as coach, before it exploded in the 2021 season with the front office moves and the drafting of Mobley.

 

[Jscc]

Rotations, communication, out of bounds plays, lack of sets, ATO’s, are problems. But good players can cover that up for a while.

I think this team's success has been based on talent. In situations where coaching really shines like ATOs, closing games, and on the road, which you probably know more than most of us here. None of those have been impressive this year. Too many meltdowns. There just aren't any clear upgrades to JBB available right now.

My pipedream is Miami deciding to start from scratch and Spoelstra becoming available.

 

[MirORich]

I think this team's success has been based on talent. In situations where coaching really shines like ATOs, closing games, and on the road, which you probably know more than most of us here. None of those have been impressive this year. Too many meltdowns. There just aren't any clear upgrades to JBB available right now.

My pipedream is Miami deciding to start from scratch and Spoelstra becoming available.

Well yeah, who wouldn’t want to add a HOF coach? Us and another half of the league would want him if he was available. So IF it even happened, and doubt it does unless he wants to go to the broadcast booth, you’d have the factors of would he even choose Cleveland over multiple other huge opportunities/offers.

However, as long as he’s been there and as much continuity as they have their with their systems, did you know Miami’s Opponents 3P% is only two spots and 0.1% better than ours?

Also, to your point about “talent”

When you assess coaches for the other top11 best winning percentage teams in the league, do you also discount and denigrate their coaches for just winning games based on talent?

 

[David.]

He was, but it was just so condescending to cover up for his inexcusable gaffe rather than show some humility and accept that he nearly cost his team a game and series.

I manage and coach way lower level stuff and I just give him the point on this one. Sure the other answer may play better but there are a million micro decisions to make and no one sees the 999,997 that go right, they only see your 3 fuck ups.

 

[amil99]

Mitchell is literally having to score 40 a game nowadays just to make this imbecile look better

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

This coach is embarrassingly bad. I have never been so sure about a coach holding a team back. Cavs shouldn't be struggling with generating good looks late in the game like that. The shot difficulty by Mitchell is absolutely insane, but he makes it anyways. Shouldn't be this way.

I want him gone so fucking bad jesus christ.